


Accidental Heroes

by Arach



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crimes & Criminals, Fluff and Angst, Human Bill Cipher?, Love/Hate, M/M, Magic-Users, Mild Blood, Older Dipper Pines, Older Mabel Pines, Superheroes, Superpowers, Supervillains, Violence, slightly graphic violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-09
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-04-13 17:24:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4530654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arach/pseuds/Arach
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Dipper and Mabel are given superpowers after drinking a potion, they do what anyone else would do.</p><p>They become superheroes.</p><p>And what does every superhero need?</p><p>A supervillain of course. Theirs just so happens to come in the form of a triangle.</p><p>{ SLOW UPDATES }</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Little notes:
> 
> \+ The twins are eighteen and living on their own.  
> \+ Gravity Falls isn't a small town in the middle of nowhere. It's like NYC, but less busy.  
> \+ Bill's not a demon. At least, not in the way we know him to be.  
> \+ Credits to [mindlessmsytery](http://mindlessmsytery.tumblr.com/post/124770048941/divamagneto-is-superhero-au-billdip-a-thing) on Tumblr for Bill's supervillain name! :D
> 
> As always, happy reading!

“Alright, now all I have to do is say this sentence with my hand over the potion and it should be complete.”  Dipper’s eyes are fixed on the Latin printed in neat cursive – neither his nor the author’s handwriting, but another unknown person who knew magic well;  at least that’s how it looked like judging by the book someone left for him. Taking a deep breath, Dipper’s hand shook slightly as he held it over the small mason jar filled with purple liquid; once the words left his lips, his hand began to stabilize and a puff of smoke emitted from the jar when he finished up.

“Finishing Touch!” Mabel yelled, leaning precariously on the edge of her seat and nearly falling when she threw two handfuls of glitter into the smoke. It created an illusion of stars in the night sky and for a moment, Dipper stared at it, impressed, before waving away the smoke and glitter.

This wasn’t the first time they dabbled in the world of magic. After all, six years of dealing with the supernatural is enough to make anyone want to get involved. Dipper’s excuse is that it’ll help when they’re in a tight situation, but he and Mabel both knew that they only tried it out because it was cool. Any fifteen year old with their hands on anything remotely magical would’ve thought the same thing.

“It doesn’t actually look that bad,” Dipper said under his breath, pouring half of the now light blue liquid into another mason jar. “Glitter’s not toxic right?” He asked as he saw just how much of Mabel’s multicolored glitter got into the potion.

“Of course not, silly. I’d probably be dead by now what with all the glitter I inhale,” Mabel told him with a laugh. Still balancing the chair on two of its legs, Mabel reached over for one of the mason jars. As fate would have it, the wooden legs slipped and she managed to catch herself before she could fall flat on her face. Straightening up, her head almost colliding with Dipper’s chin, she patted down her large handmade sweater and shot him a toothy grin, “The chair couldn’t handle the pure awesomeness of the Alpha Twin!”

Dipper sighed at his sister’s antics, lips curling up in a fond smile, and shoved the mason jar with the most glitter into her hands. “On the count of three, we’ll drink it _at the same time_ ,” he grabbed the other one and brought it to his lips, eyes locked with Mabel who did the same.

“One… Two… Three!”

The liquid slid smoothly down his throat, a faint hint of the mint they crushed up lingering on his tongue when he set the jar back down onto the table. Mabel had finished hers already – years of drinking Mabel Juice really helped her with drinking anything else – and was back in her chair.

“Hey Dip Dop, what was this potion supposed to do again?” she asked, tossing the jar from hand to hand. It flew too high through the air, missing her fingers by mere inches, and dropped to the ground. Luckily, Dipper had found some sort of spell early on that made their glass unbreakable – which was incredibly helpful, especially when Waddles Jr. was left unattended – so the jar didn’t shatter into pieces, it rolled away.

“Um, it’s supposed to help with retaining information or boost strength, something like that,” he replied, holding the book up to his face with eyes squinted and reading the smaller text on the page. “It’s smudged so I can’t really translate it accurately.”

“Guess we’ll have to find out tomorrow, huh?” Mabel practically vibrated in excitement, the look on her face reminding Dipper of the time she had all that Smile Dip. The memory caused a shiver to run up his spine and he quickly glanced over at the clock before placing his hands on her shoulders, turning her around, and pushing her towards their shared bedroom – they’d converted the other one in their apartment into a guest room for when Mabel invited her friends over.

“It should start kicking in around four, but yeah. We’ll have to wait for tomorrow.”

He let go of her when they made it to the master bedroom, ducking just in time to miss the two arms aiming to place him in Mabel’s version of a chokehold. He chuckled at the sound of her grumbling and dived under the covers. His insomnia had gotten slightly better after the creatures haunting the shadows of Gravity Falls Metropolis began to hide themselves again, but he still spent hours lying awake at night.

Tonight, however, was not one of those nights. It took him and Mabel all day to gather the ingredients for the potion they just drank and now he was worn out.

The sound of Mabel’s even breathing and soft, barely audible snoring mixed in with the sounds of the city lulled him to sleep. He hoped that they hadn’t messed up the potion and that something was going to be horribly wrong the next day.

* * *

Dipper awoke the next morning to a loud scream – one he immediately recognized as Mabel’s – and he was out of bed in an instant, hand grabbing the baseball bat hidden behind his desk. He ran out of their room, looking frantically at the small area of their apartment for the source of the scream.

“Mabel!” He shouted, bat held in front of him and ready to strike. He couldn’t find his sister anywhere.

And then something touched his head. He spun around, swinging the bat haphazardly, but saw nothing. Was this a ghost? A creature they hadn’t encountered yet? It should be impossible for anything remotely mythical or magical to get inside; they’d made sure of it through many spells and rituals.

“Dipper, look up!” Mabel yelled from… somewhere. He still couldn’t see her. Taking a deep breath to prepare himself for whatever was above him, he slowly shifted his gaze upwards. The sight that greeted him caused his grip to loosen, the bat landing on his foot. It wouldn’t have hurt that much if it weren’t metal.

Yelping in pain, Dipper hopped on one foot while his hands held onto the other, a quick healing spell being muttered under his breath. He let go of his foot when the redness faded along with the pain.

“Oh man, you should’ve seen your face, bro!” Mabel laughed and Dipper glared up at her.

She was flying.  His sister was actually _flying_ , not with magical wings or invisible strings or the help of some wind fairies (if those even existed). It was completely impossible and he wondered what the hell happened while they slept.

“Mabel,” he practically sighed her name, a hand rubbing his still tired eyes, “Can you come down?”

“One more lap,” With that said, she darted around the apartment, dodging light fixtures and grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl. Taking a bite out of the apple, Mabel landed in front of Dipper, stumbling slightly when her feet fully touched the ground. “What’s up?”

“How are you flying?”

“I don’t know,” she replied with a shrug, “Woke up this morning floating over my bed and I kinda just went along with it. Pretty cool, right?” Grinning at him, she took another bite; drops of juice from the apple getting on his face.

Dipper simply wiped it off, too preoccupied with his thoughts to do anything else. He went through every possible explanation, but nothing seemed right. And then it hit him, _the potion_. Of course, he must’ve translated it wrong and now Mabel could fly.

But what about him?

He drank the potion too and he didn’t wake up inches off his bed that morning. He certainly didn’t feel any different.

“Figure it out yet, bro bro?” Mabel’s voice shook him out of his head and he nodded.

“Yeah. The potion, it doesn’t help retain information or boost strength. Apparently it can make you fly or at least something like that.”

“Awesome! Wait, that means you can fly too. I can be the Alpha Twin of the skies now!” Mabel pumped a fist in the air, chanting _alpha twin_. She lowered her hand when Dipper didn’t give his usual retort.

“No, for some reason the potion didn’t give me that ability.”

Mabel hummed, finger tapping her chin as she thought. “Doesn’t mean you don’t have _some_ kind of superpower.”

“I guess, but…” Dipper let his sentence trail off. He seriously doubted that the potion worked on him. Why? He didn’t know and he kind of wanted to find out. After all, it could be added as a little footnote to the potion.

“But nothing! We’re going to find out your superpower!” Mabel grabbed onto Dipper’s hand. As soon as their fingers touched, vines appeared. They crawled up Mabel’s arm and would’ve kept going if not for Dipper violently pulling away.

He looked between the vines decorating Mabel’s skin and the remnants of it on his hand. His mouth opened and closed several times, he didn’t know what to say.

“Well… we’ve found your superpower,” Mabel said, looking just as shocked as Dipper. Excitement soon replaced it and she peeled off the vines, hissing slightly when she saw they had tiny thorns. Thankfully, they did nothing more than prick her skin, little droplets of blood sliding down her arm.

“Sorry about that,” Dipper said, peeling off his own vines. He was surprised to see that there no thorns on his. Mabel told him not worry, her wounds already closing up after she muttered a healing spell similar to the one Dipper performed earlier.

Dipper held up a piece of the vine, noting that it looked like any other vine someone would find crawling up the walls of an old building. And then he opened and closed his hand, the one where the vine shot out from. He hadn’t felt anything and his hand was still its normal, pale color.

So, the potion gave Mabel the ability to fly and him the ability to… shoot vines out of his hands? Yeah, that’s what it looked like.

“Dipper! You know what this means?” Mabel asked, grabbing onto his shoulders and shaking him. She had a wild look in her eyes, the kind Dipper saw whenever she came up with some insane idea.

Weary about what she had planned, Dipper shook his head. “Is this going to be life or death?”

“…No,” Mabel’s eyes shifted up to the ceiling and then back down. That didn’t bode well. “We have _superpowers_ , bro! And you know who has superpowers?”

“Oh no, no, no. Mabel! We are no–”

“SUPERHEROES!” she exclaimed, flying up into the air and doing a flip. “We can fight crime and save people and then the mayor will give us a huge key to the city!”

“Gravity Falls is the _worst_ city to do superhero stuff,” Dipper informed her, “The biggest crime committed here was by Gideon with his whole scamming the entire city thing.”

“Ew, don’t remind me of that little creep,” Mabel’s face scrunched up in disgust, “C’mon, Dip Dop, something’s bound to happen. Remember how the gnomes were acting like they were preparing for the apocalypse?”

He did. The gnomes knew everything that happened in the city since they were small enough to be anywhere at any time of the day. They also took a liking to Mabel, so they served as the twins informants whenever needed.

If something big were coming to Gravity Fall, they were the ones to know and two nights ago, they certainly acted like something big was coming. Something big and terrifying.

“Alright, we’ll play hero,” Dipper finally said, elongating the last vowel when Mabel swooped down and picked him up. His feet dangled a few feet above the ground; Mabel’s arms the only thing keeping him from falling and possibly spraining his ankle. “But! Only when an actual crime happens. Deal?”

“Deal!” Mabel squealed and squeezed Dipper tighter before dropping him onto the couch. “Oh man, I need to go make us costumes!” With that she flew into their room, the door slamming shut behind her.

Dipper slumped back into the couch, propping his feet onto the coffee table, and held out his hand. He imagined long tendrils of vines creeping out to grab the picture frame off the wall in front of him. Nothing happened and he sighed. Maybe he needed to be in contact with the object…

As soon as he stopped trying so hard, the vines shot out and smashed through the drywall. Dipper’s jaw dropped as he stared at it in disbelief. Well, this was going to be much harder than he thought.

* * *

Two month passed before the ‘big, bad supervillian’ – as dubbed so by Mabel – entered their city.

During that time, Mabel had finished up their costumes and took to the skies every night before going to bed. Meanwhile, Dipper began to learn how to control the vines. He could focus them onto certain objects, adjust the strength (something much needed after the drywall incident), and tighten or loosen them around whatever they held. He had to admit, it was a pretty cool power after he got the hang of it.

“Mabel!” Dipper yelled, sitting on the edge of the couch with his eyes fixed on the television screen.

“Hold on!” Mabel yelled back, her own eyes focused on the little costume she was making for Waddles Jr. Even if her pet pig couldn’t go out and fight with them, she wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to make him their mascot.

“Mabel!” The frantic way Dipper said her name was enough to make her accidentally poke her finger with the sewing needle as she set the fabric down and walked into the living room.

“What’s the emergency, bro?” she asked, hopping over the back of the couch and landing in the empty seat with a soft grunt.

Dipper didn’t say anything, just turned up the volume on the television. Mabel turned her attention to the news.

“ _Around six o’ clock this morning, Fiddleford McGucket was found mutilated and hanging off a street lamp in front of Greasy’s Diner by employee Susan Wentworth. Aside from a triangle with an eye in the middle carved into McGucket’s back and the words Triangulum Australe written in what is presumably McGucket’s blood on the sidewalk, the police have yet to find any other trace of the killer.”_ Shandra Jimenez reported as the images she spoke about appeared on the screen. Dipper’s brows furrowed, the triangle looking oddly familiar. Mabel, completely ignoring the pictures, had slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide with tears pricking the corners

“That’s… that’s horrible! I mean, sure he was kinda crazy, but he was a nice guy!”

“Triangulum Australe,” Dipper muttered under his breath, letting Mabel have her moment before turning to her, “Do you think this is the bad guy we’ve been waiting for?”

Mabel wiped away her tears and took a few deep breaths to calm down. “I don’t think, I know,” she told him, completely confident in her answer. At the moment, all she wanted to do was find this Triangle whatever before they hurt anyone else.

“Then we’re gonna ha-” An explosion drowned out the rest of his sentence, the two immediately brought their attention back to Shandra reporting what just happened.

_“This just in, a robber is currently taking place at Gravity Falls Bank. The police estimate that there are a total of fifteen hostages.”_

They didn’t listen to the rest, their gazes turning to each other. There’s a question lingering in the air; Mabel nodding her head in response and Dipper gulping, a bit reluctant. Mabel glared at him, punching his arm as a persuasion tactic.

“Alright, alright! Let’s go,” Dipper relented, getting off the couch at the same time Mabel jumped up. He watched her run into their room and then come out with two hangers of clothes.

“Costumes!” she exclaimed, tossing Dipper his while she disappeared into the bathroom to put on hers. He stared at the forest green, sleeveless suit with a pine tree – the one on his favorite hat – stitched right in the middle. There was a domino mask as well, the same green as the rest of the outfit, and a cape with pine trees decorating it.

If it weren’t for the circumstances, there was no way Dipper would wear something like this. With a sigh, he quickly slipped on the suit and clasped the cape around his neck. He left the mask resting on top of his head for now and put on the black combat boots Mabel had also thrown at him earlier.

“Ta-da!” Mabel flew out of the bathroom and showed off her own costume. It was like a dark pink version of Dipper’s, shooting stars in place of his pine trees. She also had a utility belt around her waist; the only thing he could see were knife handles. He vaguely remembered her practicing how to throw them.

“We good to go?” he asked, hand resting on the front door and foot tapping almost impatiently. The longer they stood there, the longer the robbers were keeping the hostages.

“Yup! But we’re not going through the front door,” Mabel grabbed his arm, ignoring his spluttering, and opened the largest window in their apartment. Still holding onto Dipper, her grip more secure, she moved backwards and flew up, bringing Dipper along with her. “Hold on tight!” Without another word, they went through the window and into the open air.

“This is insane!” Dipper yelled over the wind, panicked eyes watching the roofs of buildings pass by beneath them.

Mabel merely laughed in response, landing on the roof of the building right next to the bank. Dipper stumbled forward, catching himself just in time. He got up and moved to the edge of the roof, observing the scene before them.

The police surrounded the entrance, one of them yelling through a megaphone for the hostages to be released. So, they hadn’t made much progress, Dipper thought as the outline of a plan formulated in his head.

“We’re going to go in through that door on the roof and take down whoever’s on the second floor. You go rescue the hostages, I’ll stop the ones at the vault,” he said, not taking his eyes off the door he mentioned. He knew Mabel was right behind him.

“Got it. Mystery twins?” Mabel stepped up to stand by him, her right hand held out in a fist and her left arm around his waist.

“Mystery twins.” Dipper couldn’t help the smile on his face as he bumped a fist with hers.

Mabel tightened her grip around Dipper and flew towards the door, keeping to the more shadowed parts of the roof just in case someone looked up and saw them. They landed silently and crept towards the door.

“It’s locked.” Mabel whispered, twisting the doorknob both ways. It wouldn’t budge.

Dipper motioned for her to step away from it. Taking a deep breath, vines danced from his palms. They slid in between the door and the wall, latching onto the lock. Another quiet exhale and he closed his hand, effectively breaking the lock.

Mabel made a sound of awe, watching for a moment as the vines retreated back to Dipper before trying the doorknob once again. It opened without a problem. The duo exchanged reassuring nods, Mabel walking down the stairs first and Dipper closing the door behind him as he followed her.

They were in.


	2. Chapter 2

Moving through the second floor went easily enough.  
  
When they had reached the bottom of the stairs, Mabel's fingers fiddling with the handle of one of her knives as Dipper crept up to the door, there was no one waiting for them on the other side. In fact, the entire floor seemed to be empty. It wasn't too surprising; there were only offices up there and nothing of important value. Still, the twins treaded cautiously, ducking behind trash and hugging the walls whenever they heard something.  
  
The police officer with the megaphone was still shouting, trying to reason with the robbers and then threatening them when the first bad guy showed up.  
  
Mabel had already made her way to the first floor, waiting for Dipper's signal before she could begin to move in on the hostages. So, Dipper was left to face him alone.  
  
He was dressed in all black and wearing a ski mask – a stereotypical robber outfit. Compared to Dipper, he had more muscle on his body and towered almost comically over the teen. It definitely intimidated him as he watched the man ransack one of the office desks. Before this, the only person he's ever fought was Mabel and while it increased his stamina and strength drastically, Mabel was the one who would've been taking down this guy as soon as she saw him. Dipper, on the other hand, needed a minute or two to mentally prepare himself. Taking a deep breath, Dipper waited for the guy to step out of the room, the vines in his palms unraveling slowly. Once the man as fully out of the office, his back to Dipper, thorned vines shot out and wrapped themselves tightly around his legs, cocooning them enough that when Dipper pulled back, the man went tumbling down.  
  
He fell with a loud thud – loud enough to resonate throughout the stairway nearby and reach the robbers on the first floor. The hard impact elicited a pained grown from the man, droplets of blood creating tiny pools on the tiled floor, as he struggled against the vines.  
  
If they were ones that grew naturally, he might have succeeded in freeing himself by ripping them apart. However, these were magically created ones with Dipper playing puppet master. All of his attempts were futile. The teen tightened the vines around the criminal, imbrued thorns digging deeper into flesh, and threw him against the wall. The amount of force he used nearly dragged Dipper along, but he released the vines just as he began toppling to the ground – after tripping over his own feet; not all superheroes were immune to clumsiness. Palms hitting the floor, he winced at the stinging sensation left from the blow.  
  
Dipper pushed himself up and onto his knees, his attention captured by the red running down from the man's body. There's was a lot, more than he's ever seen before (excluding his and Mabel's), and he was the cause. Was the guy still breathing? Would he die from massive blood loss?  
  
The thought sent Dipper's head spinning. Fighting bad guys and disposing of troublesome supernatural creatures was one thing, but killing a human being was in an entirely different ballpark. He wasn't sure if he was prepared for that kind of responsibility.  
  
There wasn't any more time to dwell on these thoughts of self-doubt because footsteps thundered up the stairwell and two guys appeared at the top. Dipper immediately dove to hide behind a nearby trash can, his focus zeroed in on the men – one just as big as the guy he's knocked out and the other surprisingly scrawny – as the small guy pointed out the bleeding man on the ground. The bigger guy made a noise that sounded like a growl and he barked for the other to start searching the place.  
  
Dipper exhaled quietly when they began moving down the other side of the hall. He needed to stay calm and take some time to strategize. From what he's learned, there were six robbers; two guarded the hostages, one watched the second floor, and three were working on the bank vault. He's taken care of one already. The big guy that made the inhumane noise must've been one of the guards and the small guy must've been working on the bank vault. If he dealt with these two quickly, he could sneak into the basement where the bank vault was most likely located and then send the signal for Mabel to do her part.  
  
He felt confident now that he had a clear plan in mind and took another deep breath, eyes briefly closing. When he opens them, legs filled his line of sight. Fear spiked up in Dipper's heart. _How did he..._ light glinting off crimson in his peripheral vision briefly caught his attention. Some of the blood must've gotten on him and he accidentally left a trial. What a rookie mistake. It made him want to bang his head against the wall.  
  
Of course, he doesn't get the chance because the big guy roughly grabbed his neck, effectively knocking the wind from him, and picking him up like he weighed nothing.  
  
Dipper's hands held onto the man's wrist, kicking his feet to no avail and his vines seeming to have little effect on him _(probably because he had a high pain tolerance)_. This was bad. Very bad. With every second that passed by, his oxygen supply declined. He was beginning to feel lightheaded; the fleeting moment of weakness added fuel to his slowly diminishing fire. The vines encased the guy's entire arm, the thorns becoming bigger and sharper as they embedded themselves deeply into meaty flesh.  
  
Black spots appeared and the man's covered face blurred causing him to panic. He hated using this move, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He wasn't about to die right then and there.  
  
Another set of vines slithered on top of the ones wrapped around the guy's arms. These vines, much thicker and stronger than the first wave, enveloped his neck. Dipper could see that the criminal finally grasped the severity of the situation he found himself in a second too late.  
  
For some odd reason, Dipper found the trepidation that graced the other's features a thrilling experience, a nice kind of shiver crawling up his spine. Wait a minute… thrilling? _Nice_? Afraid of the twisted turn his thoughts were taking, Dipper hurried along the process of knocking the guy unconscious and immediately ran away once the body slumped to the floor.

He was frantic as he kept an eye out for the other guy. The blood on his hands, the darker feelings hidden deep within him – he wanted to wash it all away with a long, scalding hot bath and the only way he’d be able to do that was to finish up this job.

It didn’t take him long to find the scrawny robber. Dipper tiptoed toward the figure bent over and checking under one of the desks. A thick vine grew from his hand, stopping at about one foot, and he grabbed the other end. That thornless vine instantly went around the guy’s neck when he straightened up; his back pressed against Dipper’s chest.

His already pale hands clutched the vine, trying desperately to rip it away. Giving up on that, he began clawing at his throat and chest, seeking oxygen. Soon, the guy passed out – at least, Dipper hoped he did and that he wasn’t done in by asphyxiation. The vine was broken off of Dipper’s hand, the teen stepping back and letting the plant drop along with the body.

This… was this what superheroes did? He wasn’t entirely sure if he was comfortable with the acts he’s committed so far. _You’ll get used to it_ , he repeated the phrase like a mantra. After all, being a superhero made Mabel happy and he wasn’t going to let these uncertainties ruin that.

His worries now a vague thing in the back of his mind, Dipper left the second floor.

* * *

Before disappearing into the basement, Dipper made a stop at the door into the first floor. He concentrated on the spot Mabel told him she’d be waiting at and sent a vine to crawl along the walls until it made it to her. That would be the signal for her to take care of the remaining guard and release the hostages afterwards.

He only saw one robber when he got into the basement. Unfortunately – and he’s been incredibly unfortunate when meeting all these bad guys until now – the robber saw him too. In fact, they made eye contact and held it for at least five seconds before bullets were being fired at him.

Dipper reacted quickly, dodging them and rolling across the ground. He hid behind a pillar, his heart stopping for a moment at the sound of a bullet hitting the pillar. Taking deep breaths to still his racing heart, Dipper wiped his mind of anything that didn’t relate to stopping the criminals.

With determination in his eyes and an otherwise expressionless face, he sprinted from behind the pillar. Four vines – two sprouting from each hand – shot out in a green blur and wrapped around the man. Remembering last time, Dipper planted his feet firmly onto the ground before he swung his arms, the vines throwing the man against the wall. A sickening crack was muffled by a gunshot.

He felt the bullet graze his arm, tearing through the fabric of his suit, and winced slightly at the sting. Tearing away his current vines, he turned on his heel to face the man who fired the gun. He could see the guy’s mind was a mess of contradiction – on one hand, he underestimated Dipper because he was a teenager, but on the other hand, he was terrified of the strange vines.

Normal people feared the unknown and in this guy’s eyes, Dipper was part of the unknown – which is how he got a bullet lodged into his leg before he had time to react. Yelping at the pain that blossomed, he fell onto his knee – the one on the uninjured leg – and threw his arm out, new vines growing and squeezing the life out of the man that shot him. Panting, he shakily got up and retracted the vines. Even though he’s walked the tightrope between life and death before, being shot was never something he’s experienced before. Now that he has, he’d rather not suffer another bullet burrowing beneath his skin ever again.

Blood poured from the bullet hole, staining the fabric that surrounded it. However, he couldn’t afford to linger on the thought or pain. Not when there was still one more robber to take care of. He gripped the vine in his hand like it was the handle of a whip; Dipper limped toward the open vault only to find it empty. A string of expletives flowed from his lips as he looked everywhere inside the vault – not yet vacant of all the money people deposited – for the remaining criminal.

He came to the conclusion that the last robber must be the getaway driver _(How could he forget such an important piece to the puzzle? Did he really assume that they would simply walk through the city with stolen money?)_.

Groaning, Dipper limped back out and was greeted by a bleeding man who resembled the other robbers and an unfamiliar man – blond, impeccably dressed in a gold suit, and holding up by the robber. His brows furrowed together, confusion settling in his eyes as he stared at them.

“Hey there kid!”

Dipper didn’t respond to the blond guy’s overly enthusiastic words. He didn’t trust the mischievous glint in his eyes or the dangerous grin on his face. He was especially wary about the blood that stained the corner of the guy’s mouth. No doubt it belonged to the probably dead robber in his hand.

“Hey, are you deaf? I’m trying to be nice here,” the blond said as he tossed the bloody body onto the floor. It rolled until it stopped at Dipper’s feet. The amount of gore that came from the multiple injuries that littered the man’s body made Dipper’s throat burn with the bile that threatened to spill. Strange how he felt sick looking at this and yet, he handled the blood he shed pretty well.

“Who the fuck are you?” Dipper asked, hating how weak he sounded just because of his heavy panting. There was still a bullet in his leg and the blood flowed freely from the wound since he didn’t have time to patch it up.

“The name’s Triangulum Australe,” he introduced himself, dramatically bowing as he spoke. He even tipped his top hat to add a little flare. Recognition passed on Dipper’s face and the teen gasped, eyes widening. The obvious surprise elicited a smirk from Triangulum. “I see you’ve heard of me?”

“You! You… you killed McGucket!” Dipper yelled, pointing a finger at him. It didn’t take long for his shock to morph into anger. Even though he never admitted it, he had liked the old man. McGucket was the only one who believed Dipper when he shared the encounters he’s had with the supernatural.

“McGucket?” Triangulum sounded like he’d never heard the name before – it only served to make Dipper angrier. “Oh!” He snapped his fingers. “That old hillbilly! Yeah, I killed him. He knew too much.” He shrugged like death wasn’t a big deal.

White noise filled Dipper’s head and a low growl emitted from his throat. Vines moved at lightning speed toward Triangulum, but when they closed in, they got tangled up in each other. Triangulum had disappeared a split second before the vines got him.

“What?” Dipper said to himself under his breath, a pained noise falling from his lips as his injured leg was on the verge of giving out. He retracted the vines, eyes darting around to see if Triangulum was still in the room.

“Boo.”

Dipper jumped in surprise at the word whispered in his ear, a hot breath tickling the back of his neck. This time, his leg did give out and he fell forward. He would’ve landed on top of the mutilated body in front of him if it weren’t for an arm wrapping around his waist and catching him.

The arm supported most of his weight, Dipper’s back flush against a broad chest, and a chin rested on his shoulder. He saw blond hair in his peripheral vision and groaned at the situation he found himself in.

“Let me go,” he demanded, slapping the arm holding onto him. It didn’t do anything except make Triangulum laugh – he sounded otherworldly and for a moment, Dipper was swept away.

“I don’t think so. If I do, you’re going to pass out from blood loss and I can’t let that happen, Pine Tree,” Triangulum said, shifting their positions as he talked. It all happened too fast and next thing he knew, Dipper found himself being carried like a bride. When had he draped his arms around Triangulum’s neck? The past few seconds felt like a blur of movement, just thinking about it made his head spin.

“W-Wait a minute! Where the hell are you taking me?!” Dipper struggled in his arms in hopes of falling out of them – sure it’d hurt, but the cold ground was better than the body heat radiating from Triangulum. Of course, his plan didn’t work as the blond had an iron grip on Dipper’s body. It frustrated the teen.

“There’s a first aid kit over there. I’m going to take that bullet out of your leg. You’ve still got people to save, don’t you?”

“But… aren’t you a supervillian?” Dipper settled down a bit, relieved to hear that he wasn’t being taken to some remote location where no one would be able to find his body. If he ever died young (and before Mabel), his only condition would be for his body to be easily found.

Triangulum chuckled, “A supervillian, huh. I guess I am.” He didn’t say anything more as he set Dipper down onto the ground and pulled out the first aid kit. He didn’t say anything else after that and Dipper didn’t get the chance to bombard him with question because he passed out as soon as the feel of cold metal touched the bullet wound.

* * *

When Dipper opened his eyes, he was greeted by the worried face of Mabel. He was still in the basement of the bank, the stone floor underneath him familiar.

“Dipper! You’re okay!” Mabel helped him sit up and then attacked him with a hug, being mindful of his now dressed wound.

His head felt fuzzy, but it wasn’t long before that feeling cleared and he remembered everything that happened. His head whipped around as he scanned the empty basement. Triangulum had treated his wound, the bandages around his leg were enough proof of that (and his body heat still lingered with Dipper, but the teen would never say that), so where was he?

“Was there blond guy here?” he asked Mabel, allowing her to help him stand up slowly.

She gave him a funny look. “No. I came down here after setting the hostages free and found you lying on the floor.” A silent _why?_ followed her short explanation.

Dipper was hesitant to answer. He kind of wanted to keep his meeting with Triangulum a secret. “It’s nothing. Anyways, let’s get out of here.”

Mabel glanced over at him, her curiosity noticeable. He was thankful when she seemed to drop the subject and held onto him tightly as she flew up the stairs.

They decided to leave from the roof in order to avoid the press. They’d become superheroes to help people, not gain fame and fortune after all. A sigh left Dipper’s lips at the excited chatter and multiple clicking noises of photos being snapped as they flew from the bank’s rooftop.

Mabel took the attention in stride, flying through the air quicker than she usually did. They arrived back in their apartment in no time. Dipper was ready to limp from the window to the bedroom when Mabel swooped in and dropped him off inside the bedroom.

“Sleep well, bro bro! And no getting up in the middle of the night, you’re on bed rest.” With a pointed stare and a wave, she was up in the air again, closing the door on her way out.

He stood in the middle of the bedroom, staring at the door while his mind processed what happened. When it finally did, he sighed and a fond smile adorned his face. His sister’s concern for him never failed to make him feel special.

* * *

That night, as Dipper slept cocooned in his sheets, he dreamed of Triangulum Australe. Of how his arms felt against Dipper’s body as he was carried and of how kindly he’d treated his wound – well, that part and everything that followed after was his imagination’s fault.

And when he stumbled into the kitchen, face still flustered from what his mind had made up, he elected to ignore all of Mabel’s enthusiastic questioning about the blond guy he’d asked about back in the bank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little Note:  
> If y'all haven't realized it yet, this is told from Dipper's point of view so his thoughts and emotions are the only ones y'all know about. And because of this, Bill will be called Triangulum until Dipper finds out his real name.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Miss me? I'm gonna be honest and say I'd lost inspiration for this story which is why I put it on hiatus, but here we are in 2017 and my love for this plot + Billdip just came back full force.
> 
> I have a lot more planned now than I did back in August 2015 (which is why it's no longer capped at 4 chapters), but updates will still be slow - hopefully not years in between though - and I thank everyone for sticking with me and this story!!
> 
> It has not been proof-read, so I apologize for any mistakes! Also, the end of chapter 2 has been changed slightly, so I suggest reading it ^^
> 
> As always, happy reading!

There was a dry spell of criminal activity for two weeks.

At least that’s what Dipper was hoping for. Not even two days after the bank robbery and his chance meeting with Triangulum, Dipper found himself running after petty criminals before lunch and knocking down unruly supernatural disturbances after dinner. Being a superhero was more tiring than he thought and he was pretty sure he hasn’t had that much physical activity since dealing with Gideon.

Muscles sore thanks to their latest round-up resulting in Dipper having to deal with five beefy guys by himself, he ran into the bathroom like his life depended on it. He couldn’t wait to rid himself of the stench and feel of blood, the thought of a warm bath helping him to ignore how much his legs burned.

“Ugh, not fair Dip! I got stuck in a tree!” He heard Mabel yell once she’d landed back inside their apartment followed by her stomping and clothes rustling.

Submerging himself once the bathtub was filled with water and a special concoction that he’d whipped up to soothe his body even more, he had to bit his bottom lip to prevent the laugh that threatened to escape his lips.

“Oh wow, that sucks! All’s fair in love and war though, Mabes!” Well, not necessarily fair if the sudden appearance of a tree in Mabel’s usual flight path was his doing. But hey, she usually beat him to the bathroom and he felt like he deserved it after the hell they just went through.

“Laugh it up in there, bro. I’m not stupid!” She only sounded a little pissed off. “I’m going to Pacifica’s, don’t drown!” And with that the sound of the window opening and closing signaled her departure.

Peace and quiet.

Finally.

Dipper let himself sink a little deeper into the water, muttering a small spell before his mouth was also submerged. Soft jazz music resonated throughout the small bathroom and the array of flowers he’d put into the concoction hit his nose, it reminded him of home. The summer days spent playing in rivers and running through woods. The days before they’d moved to Gravity Falls.

He loved his life in Gravity Falls, he loved all the weird that came with it and all the adventure he’d found. But he was only human and he couldn’t help the times when he’d reminisce about his childhood in Piedmont. The good ones at least.

The good ones…

And the bad…

Before he could let his mind drift to the darker corners of his memories, Dipper dunked his head underwater and counted to ten. Once he reached ten, he came back up, panting slightly and wiping the water from his eyes.

He stayed in the bath until he could see his fingers beginning to prune up. Feeling more relaxed than he did when he’d gotten home, Dipper quickly threw on one of his bigger t-shirts and pajama pants. Mabel hated it when he walked around in just his underwear – something about it being like seeing him naked – while he didn’t really like sleeping in pajama pants. He preferred staying warm with his thick blanket and heating spells.

Yawning, he lazily walked into the living room and plopped down onto the couch. Stretching himself out, one arm tucked behind his head and the other holding the remote, he flicked through Netflix before settling on one of the newer paranormal movies.

Ten minutes into the movie, his fingers began to mindlessly tap against his stomach and then he began to chew on his thumb. He wasn’t aware of his actions until one of his thorned vines poked his cheek, not hard enough to draw blood but hard enough to draw his attention away from the movie.

Right, he usually munched on something while watching movies because his hands needed to be kept busy, otherwise he’d have bitten off all of his fingers.

Too lazy to get up and too engrossed in the movie to pause it, Dipper shouted, “Mabes! Could you get me popcorn?” He’d forgotten Mabel had left for Pacifica’s hours ago.

A few minutes later, a bowl of popcorn appeared in his line of sight. He didn’t notice that the hand holding the bowl was too tanned, too skinny, with markings and claw like nails to belong to his sister, but once again, he was too distracted.

Taking the bowl, he thanked Mabel and continued to watch the movie. That is, until his brain reminded him that Mabel _wasn’t_ home. And also that Mabel’s hands looked _nothing_ like the one that had given him the bowl.

Eyes widening at the realization, he nearly dropped all of popcorn onto the floor with how quick he sat up from the couch. Turning his head, he couldn’t fathom what he saw. There was absolutely no way…

“Hey there, Pine Tree! Took ya long enough!”

No goddamn way that Triangulum was standing in his living room, looking incredibly out of place amongst their more simplistic decorations. This had to be a dream or he accidentally added a hallucinogen into his bath.

“You’re not real.” Plain and simple, Dipper refused to believe that a supervillian and murderer ~~(who patched up his wounds)~~ was casually examining everything on his bookshelf and… was he flipping all of them upside down?

“Deer teeth? Never took ya for a collector, but looks like we got the same hobbies, huh, kid?” It was obviously a rhetorical question as Triangulum hadn’t even turned his attention onto Dipper. Instead he held up his bottle of teeth – used for spell purposes, of course – with his visible eye squinting as he examined it.

Dipper merely watched Triangulum grin, rattle the bottle, laugh, and then set it back down. Upside down that is. Fingers loosely holding onto the bowl of popcorn still on his lap, the movie he’d been watching now background noise, Dipper was at a loss of what to do.

He wanted to fight, throw him out, hex him into next week.

He wanted to question him about everything and talk to him about nothing.

Logic versus curiosity tore him apart and he was close to just going back to his movie, pretending that there wasn’t some guy he barely knew rummaging through his stuff. However, like always, curiosity got the best of him and set down the bowl onto the coffee table before slowly getting up.

Hands behind his back, he silently called upon his vines to grow and gather in his palm. Just in case.

“What are you doing here?” Dipper asked, tone steady with an underlying warning that if Triangulum was there to kill him, he wasn’t going down without a fight.

Triangulum hummed, still rifling through the shelves. He watched as the other picked up a framed collage of him and Mabel – a gift from his sister for their birthday – and for a moment, he could’ve sworn a wistful look adorned Triangulum’s face before he put the picture back.

“I was bored and thought ‘Hey! Why not visit my new superhero pals!’” Triangulum finally turned so that he was fully facing Dipper, an almost dangerous grin on his face.

Right, that sad expression he’d briefly seen must’ve been his imagination playing tricks on him again. Supervillains didn’t get sad, at least not in front of the enemy.

“We’re not _pals_. You’ve killed people!”

Triangulum brought a hand to chest, obviously feigning offense at Dipper’s words. It pissed him off that the other wasn’t taking him seriously. His vines wrapped around his fingers, itching to be used.

“Aw, that really hurts, ya know? I thought we could work together, give this boring old town a little oomph.”

That set Dipper off. In a second he was on Triangulum, his arm pressed against his chest as his vines served to cage him in. Usually he wouldn’t be able to one up someone else, but Triangulum was surprisingly lighter than he expected. Plus, he’d gotten a workout from practicing with his vines so often. Dark brown eyes never breaking contact with one golden eye, Dipper could feel the anger swirling deep within him.

“Work together? Do you think killing innocent people is some sort of game? No wait, don’t answer that, of course you do,” he practically spat that out, face contorting with the disgust he felt. It was mainly directed towards himself for reasons he would take to the grave, Triangulum didn’t need to know about his unwanted lust. Not when he was radiating hatred for the other.

“Admit it, kid. This town was dull before I got here.”

A vine struck out and hit the wall, mere inches away from Triangulum’s neck. He refused to say anything because he knew, in the back of his mind, that the other was right. Gravity Falls had gotten too quiet and he’d been dying inside. Dying to be back in action again.

Triangulum must’ve caught onto his internal struggle because he was smirking, a knowing look in his eye.

Dipper’s breath hitched when Triangulum leaned in closer, eyes stilled locked.

“You _love_ having me wreak havoc on this town. It’s thrilling, ain’t it, Pine Tree?”

He could feel Triangulum’s breath against his lips, the smell of chocolate and honey invading his senses. It was a surprise to him. He’d expected the other to smell of death. Gulping, he felt himself wavering underneath Triangulum’s intense stare and their too close proximity.

One wrong move and they’d end up kissing.

Dipper didn’t know whether he wanted to go for it or sic his vines onto Triangulum.

“Three days. Noontide. Dine and dash with the eye that’s always shut.”

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion at Triangulum’s cryptic and mumbled words, but before he could even stutter out a question as to what he meant, soft lips were on his.

Eyes widening in shock, he was once again conflicted. Sure, he’d been dreaming of kissing the other since they’d met, but he knew this had to be a distraction and it irked him. He couldn’t decide whether to give in or push Triangulum away. Or he could wait and not do anything expect savor the taste of bitter chocolate on his lips.

Triangulum obviously had other intentions as Dipper felt his tongue swipe over his bottom lip – a silent request for him to respond, preferably with his mouth slightly open.

 _Fuck it_.

He allowed his eyes to flutter close and for his lips to part, vines retracting so that he could bring his hand up to hold onto Triangulum’s neck. He relished the stronger taste of bitter dark chocolate and sweet honey as they kissed passionately. It was heavenly, better than the times he’d dreamt it, and he didn’t want it to end despite the nagging feeling in his chest.

This man murdered people for sport.

This man was an incredibly good kisser.

This man… had slipped something into his mouth.

Dipper’s eyes widened when what felt like a small pill was shoved down his throat. He’d swallowed it in surprise. Triangulum broke the kiss and Dipper hated himself for how hot he found the other as he licked at his swollen lips, a hungry look in his eye.

“What the hell was that!?” Dipper asked, though his vision was beginning to blur and he felt weak.

Triangulum smirked, mischievous and deadly and so different from the man he’d just made out with. “Sleeping pill, though much stronger than you’re probably used to.”

He was right, Dipper was slipping into unconsciousness quicker than when he took regular sleeping pills. He felt himself begin to stumble backwards, eyelids heavy.

“Sweet dreams, Pine Tree!”

Dipper managed to mouth a _fuck you_ to Triangulum before passing out.


End file.
